阅读理解

    Keeping the kids busy over the school holidays can be discouraging and cost parents a lot. But we've found some cheap and cheerful ways to enjoy family time this Easter from free days out to fun-filled theme parks which won't cost us much. We've done the homework so you can get started on having a great time.

Theme Parks

♦ Save from 10% to 25% off the price of tickets for Legoland in Windor by booking in advance online. A family of four can save up to ₤45.90 on a one-day ticket, paying ₤137.70.

♦Book seven days in advance and save ₤43 off the price of a family of four tickets for Drayton Manor Theme Park. Call 0844-472-1950 or book online and you'll pay ₤65 on the day.

♦ You can pick up a family of four ticket for a day at Alton Towers in Staffordshire for ₤43.80 off the day price.

♦ Save ₤16 off the price for a family trip to The Making of Harry Potter by buying a family ticket (two adults and two children) online. Family of four ₤101, compared to ₤117.

Activities

    Students looking for a cut-price trip to see the animals can save 15% off the ticket price at Bristol Zoo and pay ₤12.71 rather than the full adult price ₤14.53. Teens should show their identity as students.

Freebies(免费赠品)

    Let your kids discover what it's like to be an animal on the African Plain in the ocean. Or, they can learn to love leaf beetles（甲壳虫） or become a scientist for the day at the Natural History Museum in London.

    People who do not get enough vitamin A in their diet may develop night blindness. But in the developing world, a lack of vitamin A causes much more serious harm to children. The world Health Organization links the lack of vitamin A to as many as 250,000 child deaths every year.

    One excellent source of vitamin A is found in newly developed sweet potatoes with orange flesh. Orange sweet potatoes contain high levels of beta-carotene, which the body changes into vitamin A. Experts say orange sweet potatoes could help the Africans who are lacking in vitamin A. But, first, more people will need to be persuaded to eat them. Sweet potatoes need a better image in Africa. Jan Low with the International Potato Center says, “We do have an image problem with sweet potatoes. In many African countries, they are seen as a crop of the poor.”

    Ms. Low explains that sweet potatoes are mainly grown by poor women to feed their families in case another crop fails. The sweet potatoes commonly grown in Africa have white or yellow flesh. But they are low in vitamin A.

    Jan Low took part in a project to study how to market orange sweet potatoes to Africans best. She worked on an information campaign(活动) in Mozambique and Uganda. The campaign included radio messages about the nutritional(营养的) benefits of the orange sweet potato. They advertised its ability to “fight diseases, make you strong, clear you skin and make you look healthy”. In areas without radio, the campaigners spread the message through theater. The performances included singing, dancing and storytelling. And everywhere they went, the campaigners wore orange T-shirts and hats. They even drove orange cars.

    Dan Gustafson heads the Washington office of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. He mentions the efforts in the past to increase the popularity of other nutritious crops. He says most of these efforts failed because organizers of the campaigns did not consider what people wanted to eat. People want to eat what they are familiar with. But Mr. Gustafson sees a better chance for the efforts to increase the popularity of the orange sweet potato in Africa. Except for the color, the orange sweet potato is almost the same as what people already eat. Dan Gustafson says, “I think this time the campaigners will succeed, because they have made enough advertisements and the difference between the vegetable they have advertised and what people already eat is not a radical one.”

    The American Heart Association (AHA) says that too many people are spending far too much time on chairs and couches. "Based on existing evidence, we found that U.S. adults are sedentary for about six to eight hours a day, "said Deborah Rohm Young, chair of AHA panel that wrote the new advisory.

    According to the AHA, growing evidence shows that, on its own, exercise isn't enough to cancel out the unhealthy effects of sitting for a long time. "Regardless of how much physical activity someone gets, long sedentary time could negatively influence the health of your heart and blood vessels," Young explained.

    The exact mechanisms behind the effect aren't yet clear. “There are many important factors we don't understand about sedentary time yet," Young said. She stressed that, "the types of studies available identify trends but don't prove cause and effect.”

    "We don't have information about how much sedentary behavior is bad for health — the best advice at this time is to 'sit less and move more,” she added.

    How much more? According to the AHA, people should try to get at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous (剧烈的）exercise a day to reach the recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week, That's healthier than trying to cram their weekly exercise into one or two days, according to the statement.

    "The real risk simply comes down to the amount we sit, without there being a true medicine or method to control the harmful effects," said Steinbaum, a preventive specialist in heart disease.

    Still, society has evolved to encourage sitting, she added.

    "Our lives have become focused around activities requiring us to be still—whether it be transportation, our computers, or the television or computer in our leisure time,” Steinbaum said. "Sociologically, instead of being active to be productive or to have enjoyment, our productivity and fun often requires minimal physical activities."

    Bill Bowerman was a track coach. He wanted to help athletes run faster. So he had learned how to make running shoes. He had also started a shoe company with a friend. It was 1971. Running shoes at the time were heavy. They had spikes (鞋钉) on the sole (鞋底). The spikes tore up the track and slowed down runners.

    To make a lighter shoe, Bill tried the skins of fish. To make a better sole, he wanted to replace the spikes. Bill dug through his wife Barbara's jewelry box. He hoped to find a piece of jewelry with an interesting pattern. He would then copy the pattern onto the new soles. Nothing worked. Bill was defeated.

    Then, one Sunday morning, Barbara made Bill waffles (华夫饼) for breakfast. Bill watched her cook.

    He studied the criss-cross pattern on a waffle iron.

    Inspiration struck. The pattern on the waffle iron was just what Bill was looking for. The squares were flatter and wider than sharp spikes. The pattern would help the shoes hold any surface without tearing into it.

When Barbara left the house, Bill ran to his lab. He took the liquid chemicals that, when mixed, would harden into the sole of a shoe. He poured the mixture into the waffle iron—and the Waffle Trainer was born.

Bill's company put the Waffle Trainer on market in 1974. It was a huge hit. Maybe you've heard of that company—it's called Nike. And today it's worth around $100 billion.

It was the waffle iron that had changed the course of Bill's life—and helped turn Nike into a well-known name. Today, the waffle iron is kept at Nike headquarters. It serves as a reminder that if we keep trying, we can find a solution to even the most difficult problems. And those solutions can come from unlikely places, even the breakfast table.

    Londoners are great readers. They buy vast numbers of newspapers and magazines and of books-especially paperbacks, which are still comparatively cheap in spite of ever­increasing rises in the costs of printing. They still continue to buy "proper" books, too, printed on good paper and bound (装订) between hard covers.

    There are many streets in London containing shops which specialize in book­selling. Perhaps the best known of these is Charring Cross Road in the very heart of London. Here bookshops of all sorts and sizes are to be found, from the celebrated one which boasts of being "the biggest bookshop in the world" to the tiny, dusty little places which seem to have been left over from Dickens' time. Some of these shops stock, or will obtain, any kind of books, but many of them specialize in second­hand books, in art books, in foreign books, in books on philosophy, politics or any other of the countless subjects about which books may be written. One shop in this area specializes only in books about ballet!

    Although it may be the most convenient place for Londoners to buy books, Charring Cross Road is not the cheapest. For the really cheap second­hand books, the collector must venture off the beaten track, to Farringdon Road, for example, in the East Central district of London. Here there is nothing so impressive as bookshops. The booksellers come along each morning and pour out their sacks of books onto small handcarts. And the collectors, some professionals and some amateurs, have been waiting for them. In places like this they can still, occasionally, pick up for a few pence an old one that may be worth many pounds.

    From whale watching to shopping, the activities are as varied as the scenery along Queensland's Great Sunshine Way.

    Day 1

    Morning

    The Sunshine Way begins in Queensland's Gold Coast. Start the day with a visit to one of the Gold Coast's world-class theme parks. Then see stunt (特技) shows at Warner Bros Movie World. You can also jump on exciting rides and visit the new Lego Store at Dreamworld.

    Afternoon

    While the drive to Brisbane only takes an hour, enjoy a trip inland into the Gold Coast hinterland and explore the rainforest hikes and waterfalls in Tamborine, Lamington and Springbrook national parks.

    Day 2

    Morning

    Wake early to climb Brisbane's famous Story Bridge, where you can see the sun rise over the city. From the top, you'll be rewarded with full views over the snaking river, out to Moreton Bay in the east and the green hills of the Scenic Rim to the west.

    Afternoon

    Drive 144 kilometers north to Noosa. Hastings Street is thick with designer fashion stores and impressive restaurants. Explore one of the walking trails that run through Noosa National Park. The Coastal Track is a popular choice. Look out for dolphins and whales between May and November.

    Day3

    Morning

    Continue 185 kilometers north, through the gold rush towns of Gympie and Maryborough to the whale watching capital of the world, Hervey Bay. About 10,000 humpback whales visit it every year, making it the best place to see the ocean giants up close.

    Afternoon

    From River Heads, catch a 50-minute ferry to the world's largest island completely made of sand, Fraser Island. Alternatively, continue 110 kilometers north to Bundaberg. Then travel just east of the city to Mon Repos Beach in time for the sunset.